Photo from Cathedral Chronicle

I think all of us can recall seeing the trio above at various CHS functions. The guy on the right — Bill Danoff — went on to a stellar career in music, of course, including leading the singing group Starland Vocal Band, which won two Grammys in 1976.

Classmate John Collins sent me the link to a NBC Washington Channel 4 clip about Danoff and some background on the iconic song he co-wrote with John Denver — “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”

The video at the top of the piece contains lots of photos of Bill and the DC folk scene back in the day and, of course, you get to see him as he is now.

Anybody remember if the Montano/Dempsey/Danoff trio had a name?

Classmates gathered on December 13 at Twin Hills Country Club, Longmeadow, to mark the Christmas holiday and shared this photo. Jacqui Artiano Ruest provided the caption.

Front (l-r): Jacqui Artiano Ruest, Caroline Demers Tougas, Pat Sheehan Rogowski, Liz (Mary) Foy Holmes, Gerrie Achin Sarnelli, Judy Curto Hourihan. Second row: Mike Semanie, Sue Hartley Mantoni, Dianne Dillon, Maureen Pollard Hershel (spouse Ray Hershel behind her), Ben Aleks, Donna Roy Nodurf, Janet Boyer Hourihan (Spouse Kevin Hourihan of our class behind Janet), Anne Murphy Kellner, Sandy Secchi Roy, Joan Hamel Sagendorph, Josie Albano Pellegrino, Karen LaRiviere Audette, Ann Mattson. Third row: Ray Hershel (Maureen Pollard’s spouse), Attilio Cardaropoli, Peter Robillard, Kevin Hourihan (Janet Boyer’s spouse and our classmate), Dick Ruest (Jacqui Artiano’s spouse) and last, but NEVER LEAST, Mike Baker.

The new Pope Francis Preparatory School, resulting from the merger of Holyoke Catholic and Cathedral High, opened last fall on the same location, 99 Wendover Road, as the school we attended. Much smaller footprint, however.

Classmate Nancy Thompson participated in a walk-through and shared some photos of the interior.

The foyer of the gymnasium.

Chapel

Display of the histories of Holyoke Catholic and Cathedral

Including a picture from our edition of PantherPix

The entire Class of 2016 celebrates graduation, on the lawn of St. Michael’s Cathedral.

On Friday, June 3, 2016, Cathedral High School held its 132nd — and last — graduation ceremonies. Fifty-one graduates received diplomas.

Fifty-two years earlier, more than 700 members of the Class of 1964 received diplomas.

Beginning this fall, Cathedral will merge with Holyoke Catholic High School to form Pope Francis High School. While the new school will start in facilities in Chicopee, the school will relocate to a building due to open in fall 2018 on the former site of CHS. The building in which we attended school was heavily damaged in the 2011 tornado that struck Springfield.

The Springfield Republican has coverage of the graduation. And Cathedral posted photos on Facebook.

Goodbye, Cathedral High School.

Several people have reported that the 25-year-old son of classmate Bill Danoff, named Owen, appeared on The Voice (a reality show featuring competition among singers) earlier this week, to some acclaim.

Below is that performance. You can see Bill, and family, in several shots off-stage.

Owen refers to his father having a band that won “a couple of Grammys,” but doesn’t mention Bill’s stardom at Cathedral High. 🙂 Congrats to the next generation!

https://youtu.be/tMprskz0DMU

GySgt Thomas Sullivan, USMC, CHS’94

One of the four Marines killed by a gunman in Chattanooga, Tenn., yesterday was Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Sullivan, USMC, a 1994 graduate of Cathedral High School.

GySgt Sullivan grew up in East Forest Park, went to Holy Cross School, and was the brother of Joseph Sullivan, an owner of Nathan Bill’s Bar & Restaurant. A two-tour veteran of Iraq, GySgt Sullivan had been awarded two Purple Hearts.

Updated coverage on MassLive

Boston Globe article on GySgt Sullivan

A Navy petty officer has since died of wounds he received in the same shootings.

A $50 million regional Catholic high school, born of the merger of Cathedral and Holyoke Catholic high schools, is to be built where we went to school, on Surrey Road in Springfield. Mitchell Rozanski, bishop of Springfield, made the announcement today.

Also announced were the school colors and nickname. The Pope Francis Cardinals will carry the colors red, gold, white, and gray. (Personal comment: Seems odd to use a term that has an obvious religious connection to the name of the school and then have it refer to a bird. Trying to have it both ways? Do you like the new nickname? They could have been the “PF Flyers.” :))

The new school already has a website.

The two schools are to remain separate and in their current locations in 2015-16. Cathedral, with an enrollment of about 200, will continue in the former Memorial Elementary School in Wilbraham and Holyoke Catholic, with about 220 students, will stay at the former Assumption Elementary School in Chicopee. The schools are to merge organizationally in 2016-17 but remain in their current locations until the new school is completed.

Wow. Is that the whole class?

Today was graduation day for the Cathedral High School Class of 2015. And that class may well be the last from a school called “Cathedral.”

Ceremonies were held at St. Michael’s Cathedral for the 48(!) members of the class. They had spent their four years at Cathedral in temporary quarters at a former elementary school in Wilbraham, following the damage to the CHS structure on Surrey Road from the 2011 tornado.

The diocese of Springfield announced May 29 that the new name of the school resulting from the merger of Cathedral and Holyoke Catholic high schools would be Pope Francis High School. According to the report in the Springfield Republican, the two schools will operate under the new name beginning in the 2016-17 school year, but remain in their present distinct locations. Another article yesterday referred to Holyoke Catholic’s graduation this year as its last.

According to the news report, the name of the new school was recommended by a group of students from each school, “working with school officials,” and the recommendation was “accepted” by Springfield Bishop Mitchell Rozanski. (If you don’t sense my skepticism about that process, I’ve been too subtle.)

There is still no announced decision on the location of the new school, nor regarding school colors or mascot.

It appears Purple Panther High will Iive on only so long as our memories live.